On Wednesday 19th November, another mild and damp morning, Julia Cooper and Ian Duddle led a circular walk, starting from the Old Boot Inn at Stanford Dingley. The walk started out northwards through the village, across the River Pang, past the church and up the lane beyond, before turning left onto a footpath across the fields. Many small white waxcap fungi were poking up through the grass in the first field. The footpath continued along a trackway between banks with old multi-stemmed trees. A worrying proportion of the sheep in one of the fields beside the path were seriously lame. A rough attempt was made to measure the girth of a big old Oak beside the path. It appeared to be more than 4 metres wide, putting its likely age above 300 years. Small Holly and Elder bushes were growing out of forks higher up the tree.
The route then turned south along the edge of a wood. The leaves on the Elms and Hazels beside the path were shades of green and yellow and a single pink Herb Robert flower was seen. In the woods nearby was a big swallow-hole. Some of the trees at its edges leant inwards, then turned back to the vertical, indicating that the hole had expanded outwards during their lifetimes. The walk continued along a track which climbed over first clay then gravel, where Gorse and Birch grew beside the track. An interesting collection of fungi were growing underneath a big Beech tree, including a glossy brown variety of Boletus, troops of small Puff-balls, two very big Puff-balls and pink specimens of Mycena rosea. The sun emerged from behind the clouds, illuminating the oranges and bronzes of the Beech leaves. Turning southwards, Brooklime was seen in puddles in the track and yellow Nipplewort was still in flower. Glossy white Porcelain Fungus was growing out of an upper branch of another big Beech tree. The path led down to the bottom of the valley, where the waters of the Pang were crystal clear. The walk continued downstream along the footpath which ran along the north bank of the river. The fields on either side of the valley looked as if they should have been full of winter thrushes, but none were seen. Walking back into the village, a Nuthatch posed on a fence beside the road. Most of the group then enjoyed lunch at the Old Boot Inn.
Pictures by Rob Stallard and Laurie Haseler